Mortgage Loan Rates Fall Slightly; Mortgage Applications Slip as Well

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting a decrease of 2% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index, following a rise of 0.4% for the previous week. Mortgage loan rates fell again last week on all four loan types.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased by 5% from the prior week’s report. On an unadjusted basis, the composite index increased by 0.3% week-over-week. The unadjusted purchase index increased by 1% for the week and is 13% lower year-over-year.

Adjustable rate mortgage loans account for 8% of all applications, up a point since last week.

The MBA’s refinance index decreased by 0.2%, after rising by 3% in the previous week. The share of refinancings remained unchanged at 62% of all applications.

The average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage decreased from 4.47% to 4.45%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell from 4.42% to 4.40%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell from 3.53% to 3.49%.

The contract interest rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage loan fell from 3.15% to 3.11%.